“FLORIDA SPIRIT
QUEST”
The Florida Spirit Quest series of
geocaches will take you to a number of historic sites and
cemeteries built by Florida Pioneers. In six years, the Spirit
Quest has grown to over 800 caches hidden in Indiana, Ohio,
Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Ontario
and the hiders have grown to over fifty cacher teams. Thousands of cacher teams have logged over 50,000 finds on
these series.
FLORIDA SPIRIT QUEST
#004
"CHRIS COLUMBUS, REBEL
SOLDIER"
Rose Hill Cemetery, an old Once-
segregated African American Burial Ground is located in Tarpon
Springs, Pinellas County, Florida.
The cemetery originated in the 19th
Century.YOU WILL FIND CONCH SHELLS HERE ON SOME GRAVES DENOTING
GRAVES OF NON-SLAVE FAMILIES, GROUND PENETRATING RADAR DISCS AT THE
LOCATIONS OF UNMARKED GRAVES AND PERHAPS EVEN A WANDERING
PEACOCK...
It has been estimated that over 65,000
Southern blacks served in the Confederate ranks during the Civil
War. Over 13,000 of these served in combat roles... These Black
Confederates included both slaves and freeemen. The Confederate
Congress did not approve blacks to be officially enlisted as
soldiers (except as musicians), until late in the war. But in the
ranks it was a different story. Many Confederate officers did not
obey the mandates of politicians, they frequently enlisted blacks
with the simple criteria, "Will you fight?" Historian Ervin Jordan,
explains that "biracial units" were frequently organized "by local
Confederate and State militia Commanders in response to immediate
threats in the form of Union raids".
One such Black Rebel was Richard Quarls.
A former slave, he was born on a plantation in South
Carolina, where he was given his master's name. When the Civil War
began, he enlisted along with his master's son (H.M.
Quarles--Richard is listed in records as J.R. Quarles, with an
"e".) in K Company, 7th Regiment , South Carolina Infantry . He is
thought to have been a rifleman who may have fought at Gettysburg.
After the war, Quarls changed his name to Christopher Columbus,
thinking some might not appreciate his service with the Confederate
Army. In 1866, he moved to Florida, where he married for the second
time and had a third child. He was a chicken farmer , owned a horse
and carriage service, and received a Confederate Pension from the
State of Florida.
In 2003, Quarls was honored with a ceremony conducted by the
Sons of the Confederacy, unveiling a headstone, marked by a
Confederate seal.
*********************************************
The cache is located due north of the
given coordinates. To find out its location, go to Pvt. Quarl's
gravesite at N28 08.920 and W082 44.134--To find out the correct
latitude you will have to look at the plaque that is on the Burial
Vault Lid. There is an obvious letter missing on our soldier's
assumed name.
X = the number of the letter of the
alphabet of the missing letter multiplied by six.
Minutes of latitude= 08.780 +.0X+.069
The cache container is a SMALL--
BYOP. As always, please be respectful, and cache in, trash out.
NO NIGHT CACHING!!
"Florida Spirit Quest" is brought to you by the following
geocachers:Trader Rick & Rosie, Shady Sadie.
. If you are interested in spreading the Quest to your
neck of the woods AND WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US, email Trader
Rick and Rosie.
*****
OUR SPONSORS (Click on Image to visit
webpage):
CONGRATS TO WW.WILMA FOR FTF!!
October 21 by Trader Rick
& Rosie (74 found) October 21 by tallglenn (2832 found) "Got
the math right for the latitude, but there were two choices for
longitude: the one for the cache and the one given in the
description." Of course, tallglenn has gotten this wrong. There is
clearly no choice to be made. Don't be misled. [This entry was
edited by Trader Rick & Rosie on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at
6:12:38 AM.]
November 11 by tallglenn
(2921 found) Hi R&R, Would you please remove my name from your
Oct. 21 comment? It makes me look like a big dumbass who is trying
to mislead people. I don't think I'm the only one who has gotten
the cache coords and the description coords mixed up. Thanx!
:0)
Title: HISTORICAL MARKER:
ROSE CEMETERY Location: County: Pinellas City: Tarpon Springs
Description: Rose Cemetery, also known as Rose Hill Cemetery,
established in the early 1900s as a segregated cemetery, is the
oldest African-American cemetery in Pinellas County. Located on
approximately five acres of land, the cemetery reflects the social
history and cultural traditions associated with Christianity and
early African-American customs. Many of the African-Americans
buried here were of Bahamian descent, and some of their graves are
marked by large conch shells. Although the earliest grave marked
states 1904, there are strong indications of earlier burials. Rose
Hill Cemetery Association was first incorporated on November 22,
1916, when the Lake Butler Villa Company gave the African-American
board members a 99-year lease. The following year, in 1917, the
property was deeded to the Association. Through the 1950s Rose
Cemetery served other black communities throughout the county. Many
difficulties through those years, including destroyed records,
haphazard burials, and limited funding, resulted in many unmarked
and misplaced graves. Significant burials included the founders of
the local African-American churches started in the 1890s, and an
African American Confederate Civil War veteran, Richard Quarls
(1830-1925). Sponsors: THE ROSE CEMETERY ASSOCIATION, INC. AND THE
FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF STATE
SEE THEM
HERE